By Mike Templeton
On Sunday, October 6, from 12:30-8:30 pm, the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition Appalachian Flow Homecoming will be held at the Carnegie Arts Center of Columbia Tusculum. This event is a huge amalgam of arts, storytellers and story gathering, music, poetry. Brought to us by UACC’s Place Keepers program and our partner, the Originary Arts Initiative, Appalachian Flow Homecoming promises to be a singular event for the urban Appalachian community and everyone else who would like to listen, share, sing, dance, and enjoy a meal. The event is a free event that brings together the community to celebrate Appalachia’s diverse heritage. To RSVP, please visit https://thecarnegiecenterofcolumbiatus.regfox.com/appalachian-flow-homecoming
The urban Appalachian community is made up of an enormously diverse population, and bringing as many of our voices together as we possibly can is a rare treat for everyone in greater Cincinnati. This is why we have worked so hard to bring together not just representatives of these diverse communities but also a vast set of cultural expressions that enliven these communities. Song, dance, storytelling, and story gathering, arts and crafts, including demonstrations are assembled to bring to life the rich traditions that make up our urban Appalachian life and culture.
The event is designed by UACC Core Member and Originary Arts Initiative Founder/Director Sherry Cook Stanforth; this all-day and into-the-evening homecoming-themed event reflects a unique combination of UACC’s “Ringin’ In the Appalachian New Year” community event, and the “Express” and “Flow” arts and cultural showcases produced by our Place Keepers program. In essence, Appalachian Flow Homecoming melds some of the most important events for the urban Appalachian community.
“Gatherings that feature creative expression and community storytelling exchanges inspire memory-making and a curiosity about how people value home places. A shared, interactive experience connects people and encourages meaningful relationships among them,” Stanforth reflected. Appalachian Flow Homecoming seeks to bring together the spirit of community gathering, the celebrations of performances, and the process of sharing stories all in one event.
The event will get started with an old-fashioned square dance featuring the Bings, two people who are well-known for their bluegrass and old-time music flare. The musical lineup includes the absolute top of greater Cincinnati’s bluegrass and old-time musicians. Green Willow, Carter Bridge, Raison D’Etre, the Farmer & the Crow, and Tangled Roots will all keep things moving throughout the day and into the evening.
Over the course of the day, writers, poets, and storytellers will read from their works. These also include the finest of greater Cincinnati’s urban Appalachian literary artists. The literary end of things will also feature former Kentucky Poet Laureate and nationally recognized poet Crystal Wilkinson. We will hear from Desirae Hosley, Richard Hague, MoPoetry Phillips, Michael Thompson, Pauletta Hansel, Michael Henson (whose latest novel we recently reviewed on this blog), Omope Carter Daboiku, and Sherry Cook Stanforth. It is simply hard to imagine a more powerful gathering of Cincinnati’s literary arts in one event.
In addition to hearing stories, poems, and prose, you will have the opportunity to share one of your own. UACC’s Kith and Kin Story Gathering Project will be on hand to continue the project of gathering stories that reveal and preserve our urban Appalachian heritage. Trained story gatherers will be on hand from 2-5 pm to record your story of what family means to you. Core Member Pauletta Hansel said, “Bring an object or photo that ‘says family’ to you and we’ll talk!” A great example of how the stories we collect will be displayed can be found here. And check out our new Kith and Kin website, which is a work in progress. By early next year, you’ll be able to hear, see and read the audio and video stories we have gathered, as well as a digitized version of Perceptions of Home. The Kith and Kin Story Gathering Project is in partnership with A Picture’s Worth. Big thanks to them and to Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, the Ohio Humanities Council, and Jim Talkington Media for all their help with Kith and Kin.
And finally, Appalachian Flow Homecoming will feature UACC’s Place Keepers made up of artists and arts apprentices across generations. These writers, artists, musicians, and community activists are already shaping Greater Cincinnati’s character with their contributions in areas of educational outreach, arts action, ecology, therapy, and organizational storytelling. UACC Place Keepers events include arts and cultural showcases, retreats, workshops, story exchanges and song circles, open mics, educational field trips and visits, and dynamic forms of community outreach. Matt Farley, a third generation urban Appalachian is one of the Place Keepers. He told me he is looking forward to participating in the open mic and being a story gatherer for the Kith & Kin Project.
Core member Sherry Cook Stanforth summed it up beautiful as she states that the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition’s “embrace of Greater Cincinnati’s urban Appalachian migration heritage provides an invitation for everyone to explore and celebrate the diverse, rich heritage elements that weave us into a community.”
Appalachian Flow Homecoming will be held on Sunday, October 6, from 12:30-8:30 pm, at the Carnegie Arts Center of Columbia Tusculum. Event partners supporting UACC’s embrace of the Greater Cincinnati community include The Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum, Originary Arts Initiative, A Picture’s Worth, Meiser’s Fresh Grocery & Deli, and Roebling Books & Coffee. Admission is free with onsite donations appreciated — please help us plan the big day with your RSVP-click to the link below: https://thecarnegiecenterofcolumbiatus.regfox.com/appalachian-flow-homecoming.
Michael Templeton is a writer, and independent scholar. He is the author of The Chief of Birds: A Memoir published with Erratum Press and Impossible to Believe, forthcoming from Iff Books. He is also the author of Collected Apoems, forthcoming from LJMcD Communications and the awaiting of awaiting: a novella, with Nut Hole Publishing. Check out his profile in UACC’s Cultural Directory. He has published numerous articles and essays on contemporary culture and works of creative non-fiction as well as experimental works and poetry. He lives in West Milton, Ohio with his wife who is an artist.